Local monuments added to National Register

COST — The First Shot Monument at Cost, erected in 1937, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, and paired with the Gonzales Children's Monument, erected in 1903, to form The First Shot Monuments Historic District. 

Gonzales County Historical Commission Chairperson Glenda Gordon received an email this week announcing the registry addition and district formation from Texas Historical Commission's National Register Coordinator, Gregory Smith.

The District

The First Shot Monuments Historic District, in Cost, is located approximately seven miles southwest of Gonzales. The district consists of two small parks connected by State Spur 95, a 1.1-mile-long state highway running between State Highway 97 and Stevens Creek, approximately 500 feet south of its confluence with the Guadalupe River. This spur is what prompted Smith and the Texas Historical Commission to form the district, because the spur was created to take tourists to the monuments.

The Community

The unincorporated community of Cost is in south central Texas, approximately 60 miles east of San Antonio, on a small rise approximately one mile south of the Guadalupe River. The nominated property consists of two small parks connected by a 2-lane asphalt road, traversing a rural landscape over rolling hills. The road runs north from State Highway 97 (SH 97), and curves slightly to the west as it approaches Stevens Creek. The area is sparsely populated, and is surrounded by scattered residences and a mix of wooded lots and open agricultural fields. The right-of-way along the spur is planted with grass and is defined by a wire fence along the property lines.

The Parks

First Shot Centennial Monument, a collaboration between the architectural firm of Raymond Phelps and George Dahl Dewees and sculptor Waldine Tauch, which was installed and dedicated in 1937. The monument is 16 feet and 2 inches wide, 13 ½ feet tall, and 3 feet and 10 inches in depth. The monument has a three-part composition, with the large central panel dominated by a bronze bas relief depicting six Texians behind a small cannon. Flanking the central panel are bas relief figures carved in granite. On the left is a woman holding a laurel branch, representing victory, and on the right is a woman holding a book with her finger marking a page, possibly representing the First Shot’s place in history. The monument base is inscribed: "NEAR HERE ON OCTOBER 2, 1835 WAS FIRED THE FIRST SHOT OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTIONOF 1835-36. THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD. AT GONZALES THE TEXANS DEFIED THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT AND REFUSED THEIR DEMAND FOR THE GONZALES CANNON WITH THE "COME AND TAKE IT" CHALLENGE UNTIL REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVED FROM OTHER PARTS OF DEWITT'S COLONY AND FROM THE COLONIES ON THE COLORADO AND BRAZOS. THEY THEN PURSUED THE MEXICANS FROM GONZALES TO NEAR THIS POINT AND FIRED UPON THEM WITH THIS CANNON, DRIVING THEM BACK TO BEXAR."

The Gonzales Children's Monument is a small granite monument located on an irregular three-acre parcel to the north.

Gordon said the Gonzales County Historical Commission is now in the process of planning a dedication ceremony and reception, to take place on October 2.